I am a guy who gives everything to Google, have every god damn thing turned on on my Nexus. It's not that I trust Google, I have come to terms with the fact that privacy is dead.
The overall experience when you do give Goggle everything is quite good ( Google Now ) but I too second your opinion about Android permissions, its really idiotic.
BS. Privacy is not dead. You just gave up your privacy because you wanted a smartphone and wanted to use Google Now.
Privacy while connected to the internet is almost dead but even then it's weak to just surrender. And I think more people are fighting than you might think. Using an app like TextSecure for example is giving back a little privacy.
Yeah, it was pretty wild when I am seeing even reminders (flight times, show times, etc) from stuff that I received in my gmail inbox. It's convenient, and makes sense, but a bit unexpected.
The overall experience when you do give Goggle everything is quite good ( Google Now ) but I too second your opinion about Android permissions, its really idiotic.